The cunning NPC and his reincarnated villainess

"...suuu... suuuuu..."

Zorivia Rotteloss, a twenty-three-year-old beauty with golden blond hair and eyes the color of the most precious sapphires, the only daughter of Earl Alexander Rotteloss, a fiancee of the crown prince of the Wondalandor kingdom Noah Allsworth, was breathing peacefully in the room of the royal palace that she was granted since the first time her engagement became a thing.

She was sleeping in the fluffy bed, in the sheets of the highest quality, and even drooling a little bit with her face nuzzled against the chest of a serious-faced black-haired man with eyes of a soulless fiend that held no respect for humans nor deities.

The man's name was Medea. He was a commoner and the sleeping girl's personal assistant... as well as her first and only partner.

"...~"

Medea's glare softened as he delicately reached towards Zorivia's lips and wiped off the string of drool from her rosy lips with his thumb - even though his serious expression didn't change a bit, translated into normal human's expression, it would be equal to a blessed smile, full of warmth.

"...nnn... Nnnh...? Nhaagh...?"

Despite the softness of his touch, the beautiful girl's eyelids trembled as she began to wake up.

"Mmmm~ Medea... could... could I have some water, please...?"

The girl lowered her head apologetically and asked quietly in a hoarse voice as if embarrassed over her state.

*chuuu*

"Nnn~!"

Instead of responding, Medea pulled both himself and her up into a half-sitting position, coddling Zorivia in his lap and giving her a kiss on the neck that made her let out an adorable voice before carefully pulling the white bedsheet over her naked body... then reaching to the nightstand and grabbing last crystal bottle that still had some water and filling the glass that he then offered the girl.

"...th-thank you..."

Even more embarrassed than before, Zorivia took the glass and tried to take small gulps. Even though she was so thirsty, her throat felt like a desert, so it was quite painful to drink.

"...I... I'm sorry that I couldn't even make you-nnnnh...~!"

As she finished her water and Medea took the glass back, Zorivia fidgetted in unease and dared look at Medea, expecting him to be disappointed with her endurance, which didn't match his by a long shot. But as she did that, the black-haired man cut off her apology with a deep kiss that blew the worry out of her head.

"...puaah...~ Nnn~!"

As their lips parted, Zorivia let out a soft gasp of pure bliss and nuzzled herself in Medea's chest, forgetting that she even wanted to apologize in the first place.

Medea moved his arm, wrapping it around Zorivia's waist and bringing the girl closer. She responded by clinging to him with such gusto that it was obvious it was exactly what she wanted, but she was too nervous to ask first.

"..."

"...? Eh?! I'm sorry! I am too clin...!"

All of a sudden Medea tensed up and glared towards the door which alarmed Zorivia and made her back off with her head down acting like a scared puppy – but she ended up closing her mouth as the black-haired man embraced her and got up from the bed.

"Dummy." *chuu*

"Mmm~!"

Medea then burrowed his face in her hair and kissed her temple, making her let out another cute voice.

"Someone is going to pay us a visit. Unfortunately, killing them isn't the solution in this situation, so we have to cut short our skinship short for the moment."

"Eh...? Ohhh! I understand. I'm sorry for acting so-nnnnh~!"

Medea explained with cold seriousness, making Zorivia flinch in realization.

The blond-haired girl flinched and stared at the door, getting hot in the face. She tried to apologize, but her words were interrupted by another deep kiss that continued until Medea carried her into the bathroom, where a steaming bath was waiting for her.

"...eh...? But... When did you prepare it? I would wake up if you left the bed...!"

The blond-haired girl gulped down their mixed saliva and asked in utter confusion, looking between the large bathtub and Medea.

"I simply made a prediction and followed up with some preparations."

Medea shrugged his shoulders and pointed out without changing his expression even a bit.

"...eh... but..."

Zorivia tilted her head as the black-haired leaned down a bit so she could stand up on her own, and she put her hand into the water.

"...the temperature is perfect...! How could you prepare it like that? It's not like this is a heated bath like back in my old world!"

The girl pointed out with an adorably baffled expression.

"Just a little trick that a servant wishing to please his beloved master should know. I will not break any promises I gave you. You are a high aristocrat, dummy. I will offer you the world, and if the world is unwilling to submit, I will burn it down so you can feel the warmth you deserve."

*chuu*

Medea stepped up and used the fact that Zorivia tended to lower her head as she spoke to climb on his tiptoes and kiss her forehead...

...as without them being on the bed, he didn't have the height advantage...

...and then turned right around and left the bathroom, and dressed up with speed that would baffle the pompous servants in the palace.

As if Medea was the one to time it, the moment he was finished, he grabbed the empty crystal bottles and moved towards the door just when....

*knock* *knock* *click*

Someone knocked and pushed it open.

*whoosh* *CRASH*

"AAAAGH...!" *thump*

Without checking who it was, Medea threw the empty crystal bottle, which ended up smashing into fine pieces on the forehead of a maid that tried to enter, causing her to let out a shocked and pained scream as she fell down to her knees with blood dripping from countless small wounds caused by the sharp shards.

"!!!"

It was such a schocking event that the two people behind the maid backed off – or rather the person closer to the flying shards stepped in front of the other one and pushed them back to shield them, alert enough to act but too baffled to speak.

"Entering the room of Lady Zorivia Rotteloss without announcing yourself is equal to trespassing, and trespassing in the room of the future member of the royal family is equal to attempted murder. Consider this a warning and leave after cleaning up the mess you made."

"...!"

Medea continued walking and stopped in front of the fallen maid, who ended up choking on her tears as she comprehended the meaning of the black-haired man's words.

As a maid serving in the royal palace she wasn't some commoner but a daughter of a noble family – either lower or middle-ranked one – but it was precisely why she couldn't refute the accusation and started to tremble.

"You! What in the world do you think you are doing?!"

"..."

But while the maid was lost for words, the person in the hallway behind her stepped up and called out to the black-haired man, making him look away from the bleeding woman.

"No room except the royal chambers and the treasury is off limits for a servant accompanying a member of the royal family!"

The person turned out to be a short-haired, red-headed guard woman with her hand already on her sword, glaring furiously at the stone-faced man.

"Are you trying to get trialed and sentenced to death for impersonating a member of the royal family?"

"?!?!"

Medea asked without batting an eye, causing both women to shake their heads, taken aback.

"You...! You classless, senseless fool! How dare you ignore the presence of the crown prince! On your knees, now!"

The guardswoman, as hot-headed as her red hair would suggest, got agitated and actually pulled her sword on Medea, threatening him with the blade while stepping slightly to the side to show off the person she was shielding.

The person was none other than the gold-haired first prince of Wondalandor, Noah Allsworth.

"Insolent."

"Wha...?!"

But Medea didn't spare even a single glance at the gold-haired young man, and not even his eyelid flinched as he ignored him, continuing to focus a disgusted glare at the guardswoman.

"!!!"

Then, he stepped up as if wanting to get impaled by the weapon, which caused the woman who had witnessed him do that exact thing a couple of days prior during an official audience, to falter and step back, which allowed the black-haired man to get right in her face and stare her in the eyes.

"I said that you're insolent and a liar. There is no one behind you."

"?!?!"

Medea breathed out in an ice-cold voice, making the guardswoman lose her cool and break eye contact to turn around and check whether the crown prince was there.

But he was.

He clearly was!

The first prince, Noah, was right there in the flesh, staring at Medea in utter disbelief, his mouth hanging open.

"Because of the incident involving one of the maids hanging herself and leaving behind a disgusting letter full of accusations about his royal highness, crown prince Noah Allsworth, his majesty the King gave him a direct order to stay away from my master, lady Zorivia Rotteloss! You insinuating that his highness, the crown prince, would ignore his majesty's will is insolent! Even more, it sounds like an attempt to disgrace the royal family! And I will not stand for this!"

"...!"

Medea declared, glaring down at the disoriented guardswoman and making the crown prince, who was already opening his mouth to speak up, close it in a hurry as his face became ghastly pale.

"You...! You dare to forbid his highness the right to visit his fiancee?! Just say that you believe the nonsense in that letter!"

The guardswoman pulled away from Medea and tried to compose herself without looking back at the first prince, fully focused on her verbal opponent.

"Out of respect for your position in the royal palace guard, I will ignore what you just said."

"...eh... when did you...?!"

Medea straightened his back and change a grip on the sword that he snatched out of the guardswoman's hands so nibly that she realized what happened only when he moved away from her.

The wounded maid, who had far more brains than the guardswoman, was already in the middle of cleaning both the blood she spilled and the shards of the bottle broken by her forehead while her hands trembled as she silently prayed for the situation to not escalate in the direction that could bring her demise.

Then, Medea stepped up, ignoring the busy maid, closing the distance between himself and the guardswoman even more than before. He slid her sword back to the scabbard while glaring down at the woman with disrespect bordering on disgust.

"It is precisely because I don't believe a word from some forged letter claiming that his royal highness, crown prince Noah Alllsworth, tried to organize a kidnapping of my master that I know he would not even consider breaking his father's order. I have no doubt that all of that, including the word about his royal highness trying to break off the engagement a few years back, are all fabricated by those who oppose the royal family and wish for a downfall of Wondalandor. His Royal Highness has a clean conscience, and he doesn't have to worry about a thing. He is innocent, and my master knows it too. There is trust between them that neither you nor I can fully comprehend. That's why I know that you are lying about him being behind you. So stop trying to wipe your mouth with his Royal Highness, the crown prince's name, and leave while you still can."

*click*

"..."

The black-haired man explained coldly and made sure that the sword let out the specific sound inside the scabbard while the defeated guardswoman was staring down at her feet while biting her lips on the verge of tears.

"I'm terribly sorry for what happened, Mister Medea. I forgot myself because I wanted to ask Lady Rotteloss whether she wishes to be assisted during morning preparations."

"...?"

Then the guardsman flinched and looked to the side with sheepish eyes as the wounded maid with her apron full of bloodied shards backed off from the door and bowed down to the black-haired man while apologizing despite the fact that she was the victim.

The wounds she received – including the worsening bump and bruise in the middle of her forehead – were still bleeding and looked terrible, but she was acting as if the fault was fully on her side.

"I understand. Because your rash actions were caused by concern for my master, I will not press any actions against you. Lady Zorivia has entered the bathroom just now, and I, myself, was going to call for the maids to help her, though I will leave it into your capable hands now."

"Thank you very much! I will notify the other maids immediately!"

Medea nodded his head benevolently, and the maid bowed her head even lower with a grateful smile after receiving the other empty bottles and rushed away without another word.

"...and what are you waiting here for...? Thinking about accusing someone else of breaking the royal order, which would result in their imprisonment and death regardless of status!?"

"...!"

The black-haired man turned back to the guardswoman and scoffed without an ounce of respect, making her turn red and turn back towards the first prince with a sheepish look in her eyes.

"..."

Prince Noah stood there, biting his lips, staring at Medea. However, unable to make eye contact, no matter how much he tried, he ended up shaking his head and nodding at the guardswoman to leave with him without uttering a single word.

"Medea? I've heard some commotion... is something bad going on?"

As the black-haired man closed the door after the unwanted guests left, Zorivia—dripping with water—opened the bathroom door a little and peeked through with a timid question.

"Just some insignificant morons acting out of their league." *chuu*

*chuu*

*chuu*

Medea shrugged his shoulders and approached her, softly kissing her forhead, then her nose, to finally reach her lips and place another kiss there.

"Go back to the tub, dummy. I will clean the room before the maids storm in to help you bathe."

"Okay~ I love you~!"

"I know."

He added with a serious expression but a soft look in his eyes. Zorivia blushed and sent Medea a lovely smile while closing the door.